


This Is Love

by RakishRebel



Category: South Park
Genre: Attempt at Humor, Awkward Conversations, Awkward Kissing, Awkward Romance, Awkwardness, Bisexual Character, Bisexual Male Character, Boys Kissing, Broken Engagement, Eventual Happy Ending, F/M, Gay For You, Gay Male Character, Happy Ending, I'm Bad At Tagging, I'm Bad At Titles, Kissing, Late Night Conversations, Late at Night, M/M, Multi, POV Bisexual Character, Sad with a Happy Ending, Surprise Kissing, True Love, True Love's Kiss
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-01
Updated: 2016-05-01
Packaged: 2018-06-05 16:57:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,909
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6713296
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RakishRebel/pseuds/RakishRebel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When 25 year old Stan Marsh realises Wendy is not the love of his life, he abruptly breaks their engagement and drives off to some other place till ht elight evening. He eventually finds love coming from an unexptected corner, also known as the house of his best friend Kyle, to whom he has no spoken in months.</p>
            </blockquote>





	This Is Love

**Author's Note:**

> Please let me know in the comment section what you think! Also: I miiight write a sequal

This Is Love

 

Never had I felt more uncomfortable than I did at this very moment. I felt everyone’s eyes boring into my back and I just sat there in the middle of the restaurant trying to figure out what to do.

‘’And that’s another thing! You never listen to me, Stan! Stan? Stanley?!’’

I genuinely believed I had tried to actually listen to Wendy, but engaging in a conversation was much more difficult when everything your ears catch up on sounds like non-sense murmur.

‘’Y-Yeah?’’ I hesitantly answered her.

‘’Can you at least make SOME effort to listen to me? It feels like you’re not even TRYING, for God’s sake!’’

I softly cleared my throat and tried to speak in calming, hushed tones. ‘’Honey… Let’s not make a big deal out of this… Can’t we just enjoy our meals and talk about this later? So how was work today?’’

Wendy tilted her head sideways, making a cascade of shiny, smooth-looking hair to follow her movements and I briefly caught the brightly glimmering of her earrings beautifully contrasting the dark colour of her hair. Only if her face was as pleasing as her appearance. Her thundered face showed wrinkles on her forehead and her eyebrows were frowned.

‘’ _Really_ , Stan? ‘’So how was work today?’’?’’ She used those weird finger air quotation marks on me. ‘’You honestly just want to let this go? Can’t you understand the gravity of this situation?’’

Wendy sipped from her glass of red wine, but remained her penetrating look at me. Was it really penetrating though, or just piercing and glacial? Her eyes normally looked dreamy, but now the cold aqua blue of her eyes reminded me of a deathly laser, pointed right at me face.

I felt the blood flowing to my cheeks and I re-adjusted my tie in an attempt to cool my body a little. In vain. Maybe some liquid could regulate my body temperature. I picked up my own wine glass, but the palms of my hands were soaked in warm sweat and I almost dropped my glass. A few drops of wine landed on the delicate, white tablecloth. Shit. I tried to soak up the stain with the sleeve of my tuxedo jacket, but it only enlarged the red spot. Wendy sighed dramatically and rolled her eyes at my clumsiness. Great, now people were chuckling at me.

‘’I… I just want to enjoy dinner, okay? I promise w-we can talk this out later and –‘’

‘’Stan, there IS no later! You always procrastinate important conversations! When will you learn to be at least a little responsible for once in a while?!’’ Wendy put down her glass with such fierce movements that I felt the vibration of the table surface beneath my forearms.

‘’I eh… Well, I just don’t see the big deal about this. Erm, it’s like –. What I mean, is –‘’

‘’What do you mean you don’t see the big deal of this?! I can’t believe you shove it off like that!’’

I internally sighed and I bent a little closer over the table, my tie almost touching my _spaghetti alle vongole_.

‘’Wendy, please lower your voice. I think people are staring at us… Don’t make a scene now, okay?’’

I gazed around the restaurant and we were indeed the current centre of attention. Some lady in the corner gave us a disapproving look and the man dining with her, presumably her husband, looked no different. The tall waiter that passed us by skeptically raised his thick, grey eyebrows at us as he placed a salmon dish on the table behind ours.

Another heavy sigh escaped from Wendy’s lips. She opened her mouth to say something, but then had a change of minds and pressed her red lips together, forming a straight line. Two seconds later she re-opened her mouth.

‘’Stan, look at this,’’ Wendy said as she lifted her hand at me, showing off the ring on her ring finger. ‘’Do you even see this? Stan, I love you, but this is no proper engagement ring. I don’t think I even want to wear this. What do I tell my friends? That my fiancé was too cheap to even buy a diamond?’’

Despite speaking a bit softer now, Wendy still had everyone’s attention. There were no noises made in the restaurant, with the exception of the suppressed sound of someone gasping in shock at Wendy’s words. Wendy re-attached the strap of purple evening dress and eventually lowered her hand, but raised her eyebrows. Oh God.

‘’Well, Stanley? Do you mind explaining to me why you gave me this engagement ring?’’

I turned my head both to the left and to the right. Yep, still silent judgements being made. Oh God I couldn’t take this, not right now, not right here. I sighed and let myself fall back into my chair. My fingers soon found the bridge of my nose to press on, but my brain didn’t find the words to say. Well, technically speaking, I did have something to say, only no clue on how to say it.

‘’I… I just thought it’d be romantic to give you a self-made ring, okay? We can get you another one if you really want to…’’ I re-opened my eyes with the hope of seeing a smiling Wendy, but who was I kidding? Wendy’s face solely showed a dropped jaw in what I guessed was either indignation or disgust. Or both. What did I do wrong this time?!

‘’What do you mean ‘’we’’? It’s _your_ job to choose the ring, Stanley! Why do you even expect me to choose _my own_ ring? That’s insane! Oh my God, you have NO idea how embarrassing that’ll be to tell the girls. I’ll have you know Bebe got an absolutely _gorgeous_ ring from Clyde. I think the diamond was at least 25 carats, and the gold looked stunning as well. Clyde saved money for _months_ to afford it! Why can’t you be like that, Stan?’’

I made an audible grunt in frustration. ‘’Look, Wendy, I –‘’

‘’I _what,_ Stan?! I am Mr. ‘’I’m-too-cheap’’? Honestly, I can’t even comprehend what makes you think it is appropriate to give your fiancée a ring not even worth …’’

Wendy continued her talk in an outraged tone, but I didn’t continue my listening. I was quickly getting enough of all this. Wendy looked instable, how she threw her napkin on the table and how she made overly big hand gestures to exaggerate her words. She pointed at me and counted on her fingers while still speaking in an almost yelling voice. God, had she always been this unappreciative of me?

‘’I’m not Clyde, okay?!’’ I interrupted Wendy. She looked a bit taken aback, but soon she snapped back into her defence mode. Luckily I was able to continue my speaking before she would say even one more word.

‘’I’m not like that, okay?! You’re not engaged to Clyde, but to Stan Marsh!’’ I pointed my thumb at my chest as I said my name. I felt out of control and I feared for what could happen next, but I simply wasn’t done talking yet. ‘’I can’t afford you diamonds and I don’t like fancy dinners like this one! I don’t own a shiny BMW and I can’t get you into exclusive night clubs! I don’t even want to visit Paris, but I only agreed on that because YOU do like the city life! You know what I like? I like the countryside, I like watching the ducks swimming around in the pond and I like spending a Saturday night at home in my pyjamas watching TV and eating ice-cream! You know that? NO! Because you don’t even know ME! If you like Clyde so much, then maybe you should kiss his ass instead of mine!’’

I heard some gasping from here and there and even an ‘’Oh dear!’’ exclaimed. But I was done giving a fuck. My chair produced a squeaky noise as I shoved it back across the floor. I firmly stood up and grabbed my cell phone from the table.

‘’But Stan…’’ Wendy attempted to make me stay. I felt pulling on my jacket, but I removed Wendy’s hand by moving my shoulders.

‘’No more ‘’but Stan’’, Wendy! I’ve had enough of… of all this! Of you! You know what?! The wedding is off! You can keep the fucking ring!’’ I made a firm hand gesture as if I wiped something off of a surface and with that as my last word, I went to the wardrobe of the restaurant to grab my coat and get the Hell out of here.

I didn’t care for everyone looking at me as if I had gone out of my mind and I didn’t care for the perplexed look Wendy had showed on her face. I didn’t care for it at all. Fuck this shit.

By the time I had gotten to the parking lot my vision had gotten so blurry that I had to blink my tears away. Luckily I was able to find my car quickly and I practically snatched the door open, only to fall down on the driver’s seat. Feeling relieved, I inhaled the nostalgic odour of the old leather and I ran my fingers down the steering wheel. For a moment I considered Wendy’s travel, but then I reminded myself of the fact she should take care of herself instead of relying on me. She could call herself a cab to what fucking ever hotel, I didn’t give a damn.

Thus I slammed the door shut and the engine started after trying three times to start it. It was a bit of a challenge to drive in the faint light of the headlights, but it was certainly manageable, even with the tears rolling down my cheeks. As I exited the parking lot, I thought of where to go. I briefly considered going home, but I wasn’t feeling like meeting Wendy there later.

I grinned widely once another idea showed up in my head and shone bright like a lightbulb. I pressed the gas pedal further down and that was just how I made my way to my new destination: with the radio playing Imagine Dragons on full volume and for once I knew exactly what I had to do in my life. I almost didn’t even notice the other drivers slamming their claxons because of my music and speed. For once I felt relieved. Free from anxiety. Free from stupid responsibilities.

 

* * *

 

 

The streetlights were still on in the street of my destination, a fact that greatly surprised me. I looked at the lock in my car and it showed 01:07 in bright, red lights. Oh well, what did I expect, having to drive all the way to this place? It was not as if this was a neighbourhood I visited every day, after all. This ride had costed me tons of money on gas and I even had dinner at a freaking gas station. Nonetheless, I felt it was worth it. Even with sore shoulders and with droopy eyes.

I parked my car in the first empty spot I saw, which was probably reversed for some dude living here, but emergencies like this were an exception, right? Once I stepped out of the vehicle, I felt a fierce, cold wind waving up my hair and causing goose bumps to form themselves on my skin. My breath formed little clouds in the space around me, but I shrugged of the thought of catching a cold. I walked down the pavement as I tried to read the house numbers. 24… 22… 20…

I walked for what felt like an eternity before I finally reached the house I was looking for. Number 2, located on the very corner of the street. I shrugged off the thought of getting my car closer to here and rang the doorbell. I waited on the front porch in anticipation, but no answer came.

Wouldn’t there be anyone at home this hour? That couldn’t be… Better try again. I rang the doorbell for the second time, this time pressing it harder and a little longer. I felt guilty for possibly waking up any neighbours, but my guilt soon melted as if it was an ice-cube laying in the hot summer sun. I listened closely to footsteps running down the stairs and a voice telling me ‘’Alright, alright - I’m coming!’’. I rubbed my hands together in an attempt to keep them warm, but decided to tuck them in my pockets once I realised it was no use. I nervously played with my feet and I didn’t look up from the ground until I heard a clicking sound of a door getting opened.

‘’There you are; I was - Stan?! What are _you_ doing here?’’ His voice sounded rasped, but also a bit blurry, as if in a sleepy mode. Oh wait, I had probably – ugh, never mind. I just needed to talk right now. And maybe some hot coco too.

‘’I wanted to talk. Look, I’m sorry I woke you up and all, but I… I just really need a friend ri-right now, o-okay?’’ I noticed my voice getting trembled and just when I thought I would again cry, I felt two strong arms embracing me in a tight hug, with my chest pressed against my friend’s.

‘’Dude…’’ Kyle spoke softly, as if in a state of perplexity. I felt his curly hair tickling my skin and Kyle smelled like vanilla mixed with that weird aftershave of his. His hands compassionately rubbed my back and Kyle made little ‘’shush’’-sounds with his mouth that were in line with my heart beat. It was only that I snapped back to reality once Kyle spoke up again.

‘’Come on, let’s get you inside. You don’t wanna catch a cold.’’

Kyle pulled on my shoulder to get me inside and then followed himself, softly closing the door behind him. The heat of his residence was more than welcome. I unbuttoned my coat and hang it together with the other coats on the rack.

Kyle told me to take a seat on his couch and so I did, making a little ball of myself by pulling my knees all the way up to my chest. Soon my shoes were dropped on the floor and my tuxedo jacket put on the back of the couch. I heard some noises in the kitchen and in response to my question to what Kyle was doing, he came back to me with two big mugs with damp coming from them. The sweet aroma told me Kyle had made some hot coco for me and for himself.

I thankfully took the mug he was offering me, mumbling a small ‘’thanks’’ and I blew on the liquid. Kyle put his own mug on the coffee table, grabbed a blanket from the corner of the couch and gently covered me in it. Afterwards, he rubbed his eyes and let out a loud yawn.

‘’Sorry for waking you up, dude. It’s just… it’s all... ugh.’’ I sipped from the warm beverage and the heat felt calming as I swallowed the sip. I took another one and despite almost burning my tongue, I kept drinking because of that nice feeling I got from the liquid spilling down my throat. Kyle made the best coco.

‘’Are you alright, man? You look a bit… upset,’’ was Kyle’s response. ‘’I thought you had that dinner to celebrate your engagement with Wendy. But it… didn’t go well, did it?’’

I shook my head in response. A short silence followed, as neither of us was confident enough to say anything, thus Kyle and I silently drunk from our mugs. It was only at the time I had drunken the entire content of my mug that I felt obligated to explain myself.

‘’Wendy told me… s-she told me she didn’t li-like the r-ring I gave her…’’ I brought out. ‘’She’d p-prefer s-something like d-diamonds or w-whatever.’’ I was a bit shaky and Kyle petted my hair a little. ‘’I t-thought she liked it, but s-she said it’d be em-embarrassing to show it t-to her f-f-friends and then she told me w-what ring C-Clyde gave to Bebe…’’

I blinked to hold back my tears, but in vain. I could taste the salty flavour of tears in my mouth and I felt just broken. A failure. Despite Wendy being mean, I couldn’t get over the fact I was unable to please her. Did I suck that hard at love?

‘’Dude, that sucks,’’ was Kyle’s response. It sounded like an understatement, but I knew my friend was too shocked to better verbalize his empathy towards me. ‘’So what did you do? Did you have an argument?’’

‘’In f-front of _e-everyone_!’’ I cried as I wiped away my tears. I laid my head on Kyle’s shoulder as I continued to speak. ‘’I-It was aw-awful! E-Everyone kept s-staring at us! A-And Wendy rambled on about h-how s-stupid I was to t-think she’d l-like the ring!’’

I felt Kyle putting his arm around my shoulder in a reassuring side hug. And it was this affection that I needed to open up the waterworks. I kept crying and crying, wetting Kyle’s pyjama shirt in the process, and my throat felt too thick to continue speaking. All I did was crying, but Kyle’s hushed voice told me it was okay and that I needed to let it out. So I did, for what I felt were hours. I did feel shame, but that was greatly outweighed by a feeling of relieve. At least I had someone who took care of me, who understood me well. And boy did I need that now that I had a broken engagement, a crappy, detached family and a handful of old friends I had lost touch with years ago.

 

* * *

 

 

When I was finally somewhat out of my stock of tears, Kyle made an offer. ‘’You can stay here for the night, if you want to. You can stay as long as you need to figure things out with Wendy.’’

I almost cried again at this amount of kindness and I could solely nod because of this. Kyle proposed going upstairs and so I did, with Kyle following behind me after turning off the lights in his living room. It was only that I reached the first floor that I started to question a few things.

‘’Uhm Kyle, you have guest room in here, right?’’ Last time I visited Kyle’s residence, he had showed me all of the rooms, one of which included a guest room.

Kyle slightly widened his green eyes at me, furrowing his eyebrows together in confusion until he got the hint. ‘’Yeah, about that… My roommate turned it into a fitness room. He’s out tonight and he might come back in a couple of hours… I actually expected him when you rang the doorbell, heh…’’ Kyle scratched the back of his neck and put on a pensive face. I didn’t even know Kyle had a roommate. He lived here all alone last time I visited.

‘’You know what? You can have my bed for the night,’’ Kyle concluded. ‘’I’ll grab some blankets to sleep on the couch tonight.’’

‘’What? Dude, it’s your house: _I_ should be the one on the couch. I came here without calling or something first. Besides, you’re the one having back pains, right?’’ I argued with my friend. He looked defeated, his eyes fixed on his bare feet and avoiding my gaze.

‘’Y-Yeah, that’s right.’’ He coughed a little. ‘’But you’re the guest, therefore you get the best bed, right?’’

I had to supress a yawn and blurted out my words just to get to bed already. ‘’Look dude, your bed is big enough for the both of us. We’re both tired and I personally don’t feel like arguing. Let’s get to bed already.’’

I opened the door that led to Kyle’s bedroom and gestured him to follow me, which he did with an almost apologetic smile on his face. He turned on the light, but I didn’t care for looking around in his room right now. I only eyed the big, soft-looking bed in the left corner of the room. l sat down on the mattress and was pleasantly surprised by its softness. I undid my tie and threw it on the floor, not realising I was making a mess of Kyle’s room as my blouse followed along with my pants.

I let my body fall on my back as I laid myself down on the right side of the bed. I grasped the blanket and pulled it over my body, using the bare minimum to cover myself so Kyle could have some blanket too. I closed my eyes and soon after I felt the mattress bouncing underneath Kyle’s weight located next to me.

Then this silent followed, some sort of fourth dimension that solely consisted of this soft bed along with the sounds of our breaths. I didn’t want to further trouble Kyle with my personal problems, but now that I had calmed myself down enough to talk a little, I should take that opportunity, right? Besides, it was not like I had someone other to talk to than Kyle.

‘’Hey dude, can I tell you something else?’’ I whispered in the darkness, more speaking to myself rather than speaking to Kyle.

‘’Uhm sure, what is it?’’ Kyle spoke from beside me.

‘’I think I broke my engagement with Wendy earlier today.’’

I heard Kyle softly gasping and then some blankets moving. The light went back on shortly after.

‘’Dude! You didn’t mention _that_! But how -? _Why_?’’

I blinked as my eyes needed to get used to the new source of light lighting up the entire room. Kyle noticed my struggle, apparently, because he dimmed the light a little before he gave me a surprised look. He looked funny like that, with his green eyes all bugged out and his jaw actually dropping a little. I chuckled aloud and moved my hand towards Kyle’s chin to close his mouth. My friend looked slightly embarrassed, but above all still in shock.

‘’Why? Because Wendy’s a stupid bitch, that’s way.’’ I raised my upper body from the mattress, leaning my back against the back of the bed next to an agitated Kyle. ‘’No but seriously, I realised something today. I shouldn’t be with someone who doesn’t appreciate a single thing I do. She criticises everything I do. She doesn’t even let me drink coffee past ten in the morning.’’

Kyle chuckled at my comment, but then frowned again. ‘’But what about the wedding? How are you gonna tell your parents?’’

I lazily shrugged my shoulders. ‘’I hadn’t thought about that, but I guess they’d support me if I told them this is what makes me happy. Besides, the Testaburgers never liked me. Mr. Testaburger never trusted me, but for real: he’d shoot me if he had the chance to do it. And then Mrs. Testaburger is, like, a real-life witch – she even has the crooked nose! Maybe Wendy will look that in a few years too. Dodged a bullet there.’’

Kyle laughed as he covered his mouth with his hand. His other hand punched me I the shoulder. ‘’Dude!’’ he said, still tittering.

‘’And then there’s all these bad habits of her. Do you know how many hairs she loses in the shower? The drain looks worse than the floor of a barber shop! OH – and she has like, TONS of shampoos and perfumes she never uses. It takes up so much place and she never bothered to throw them away. Did I mention she never throws pieces of clothing away either? I believe she still has her prom dress hanging in her closet somewhere.’’

‘’Her prom dress? You mean strapless and black, right? Does that old thing still fit her?’’ Kyle looked as if he regretted saying it, until I responded to him with a wide grin and a determined ‘’Hell no’’. Kyle and I both burst out in laughter until we heard someone slamming the wall in irritation. Kyle put his index finger to his lips and then I continued to speak in more hushed tones.

‘’She once followed this crazy vegan diet too. I think she fainted on day eight.’’ Kyle shared an impish snigger with me. ‘’And this one time, we spent Thanksgiving at her parents’ house along with the Stevens and the Donovans, and Bebe and Clyde were making out in the kitchen - out of boredom, I guessed. But then they were totally getting it on, you see, along with some moans here and there. No-one dared to even talk about it.’’ Kyle had to supress a laugh to let me continue. ‘’But then we hear this loud beeping noise. So Wendy stands up to get some dish out of the oven without realising what was going on and soon after we heard a high-pitched scream.’’

‘’And then?’’ Kyle encouraged me to keep talking.

‘’Then? Then she gave them a twenty-minute lecture about how inappropriate it was. We could hear every word of it from the dining room. Turns out Clyde’s zipper had already been pulled down and what more. So then they get back to the dinner table all flustered and Wendy looked SO pissed, like she could explode any second. She kept giving them death glares and all, especially when Bebe tickled her boyfriend under the table on his – er, down there. I think Mr. Testaburger found Bebe’s bra behind the coffeemaker the morning after.’’

By this time, Kyle began to hiccup loudly, earning some more slamming on the other side of the wall, and he held on to his stomach. ‘’Dude…’’ he brought out. ‘’That’s hysterical!’’

‘’Yeah, but I sure as Hell am glad I don’t have to face those people anytime soon. You… you sure you’re okay with me staying here? I get you have a roommate now and all, and I really don’t want to bother you guys…’’

‘’Bother? What do you mean? George had had friends over too: he’ll be okay with it,’’ Kyle told me.

‘’W-What? What do you mean he had ‘’friends’’ over? Isn’t that… _cheating_?’’

‘’What do you mean cheating?’’ Kyle paused for a moment once he got what I was referring to. ‘’Stan… George and I are not - I mean, I am, but he’s not. We’re just roommates, that’s all.’’ Kyle waved his hands in front of his chest. ‘’I wouldn’t date him, hehe, even if he was into guys.’’

‘’So, are you seeing anyone then?’’ My question was meant to be casual, but Kyle suddenly looked away from me and rubbed the back of his neck with his hand. It was hard to see in the faint light of his night lamp, but I think his face was obtaining a red colour.

‘’No, actually not. I mean, I…I haven’t been really thinking about dating…’’ he explained to me. ‘’I guess there’s someone, but he’s kinda off the market…’’ he mumbled.

‘’You should tell him, dude!’’ I nudged my friend in his rib cage. ‘’Or else you’re gonna end up all sad and alone like me,’’ I added as a joke.

‘’Well you see,’’ Kyle began as he ran his fingers through the mess that was his copper-coloured, curly hair, ‘’it’s erm, it’s not important right now. We should get some sleep.’’ Kyle bent over to turn off the light again, but I grabbed him by the shoulder to prevent him from doing so.

‘’Come on, dude! I just shared my entire love life with you. What’s this dude’s name?’’ Kyle shook his head, signing he would give me a name. ‘’Can you at least tell me what he looks like?’’

‘’He erm… is taller than me. And he has black hair. Blue eyes. A gorgeous smile too. And this little gap between his front teeth…’’

It took one second for me to figure out the person he was describing was no-one other than Stan Marsh. It took another second for me to realise Kyle had been crushing on me for a long time, given this was the first time I visited him in months. It took a short minute for me to conceive my next action.

I cupped Kyle’s heat-radiating cheeks and brought my face closer to his before I could let his lips make contact with my own. I titled my head to the side and brushed his lips and eventually, Kyle responded to my kiss, presumably not without hesitation, but still. The whole thing was a bit clumsily done, with some salvia running down my chin, but still it felt like the most intimate, passionate moment I had ever shared with someone. Just right here and now, in Kyle’s messy bedroom with some annoyed guy on the other side of the wall and with Kyle tasting like the hot coco from earlier. I felt Kyle’s hands stroking my back and in return, I caressed his bouncy hair, letting the locks intertwine with my fingers. This was it. This was just me and my best friend Kyle, whom I hadn’t seen in months, passionately making out on his soft bed. This was me not giving a fuck about Wendy or about what her reaction would be. This felt like Heaven. This was what love was.

 

~~And that kids, is how I met your father~~


End file.
